Possum Chicken Soup for the Zutara Soul
by TwiggyBlack
Summary: Curl up with some possum chicken soup and a nice drabble series. For the Zutara soul.


**Ready for some more Possum Chicken Soup? This time it's Zutara flavored. Regular AU stuff. Zuko _ee _Iroh have joined the Gaang, they still live in Ba Sing Se. It is recommended to listen to the song 'Travelin' Soldier' by the Dixie Chicks before you read this, or after, or during, so you get to know the song. However, the lyrics are nice enough.**

**Possum Chicken Soup for the Zutara Soul:**

**by TwiggyBlack**

**It is recommended you listen to 'Travelin' Soldier.'**

**Warning: character death**

**Part One: Travelin' Soldier

* * *

**

_Two days past eighteen  
He was waiting for the bus in his army green  
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there  
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair_

Zuko slipped into his Uncle's teashop. He didn't realize or remember when this all began, this happiness of his Uncle owning his own teashop, but it was gone now. Time was now measured in Before and After. Before, they hadn't realized the solar eclipse was coming, they were happy. After, they realized they would have to fight against the brother and father, and the very people and Nation they held so dear.

He sat down slowly into a chair, tired and anxious. He would leave soon, with the Avatar and the peasant boy. One thing that hadn't changed was the fact that the Water Tribe children were still the peasants. At least the Water Tribe boy was. Zuko and Katara were surprisingly close, to the dismay of Aang and Sokka. Since the day in the caves, Zuko had become more and more reclusive, and now, by summer's end, his muttered phrases were only heard by Katara.

_  
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile  
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while  
And talking to me,  
I'm feeling a little low  
She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go_

Katara came up next to him, tea tray in hand. She smiled gently at him, noticing his anxious eyes and sweaty hands. How much this pony-tailed Fire Prince had changed. He looked up at her, noticing her presence by the table. She had finally opted for clothes other than her Water Tribe garments, as had he. Both thought the change suited the other.

Zuko hated tea, that Katara knew. He was not a fan of the brew, and she wondered idly why he was here.

"Can we talk?" The phrase was jumbled and mumbled closely together, in a hushed and sullen tone.

She smiled again, and Zuko realized he liked that smile.

"I'm done in an hour. I'll ask your Uncle if I can go earlier." 

So they went down and they sat on the pier  
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care  
I got no one to send a letter to  
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you

Shyly, Zuko walked with Katara to the edge of the Upper Ring, to a river that flowed gracefully through the Ring. They sat together on the bridge, close enough to hear each other's breathing. She rested her hand in his, and expected him to be silent for many more moments. The tired and reclusive boy tensed at the touch, even if it did come from the one who was notably his best friend. His sole friend.

He was quiet for many more moments, savoring the silence, but he knew that the forever pesky and impatient Waterbender would ask him what was on his mind soon. So he lept in, like he would leap into the water off the low bridge.

"I'm going away."

She nodded, and suddenly she looked tired and anxious too. It was understood that the boys would go first—go scouting, let Zuko refind his way around the city. That they would leave her, Toph, Iroh, and the entire rebellion army they had gathered from Ba Sing Se and from their travels. She wouldn't see them for weeks, at least, and time was running out. Sokka planned ahead with as much berth to time as possible, but she feared that would not even be enough.

"I—Sokka and Aang can send things to Toph, and I know it will get here fast enough. We got a bird to fly letters back. So I was wondering...if I could..."

Zuko didn't finish. Katara nodded, gently tightening her grasp on his palm.

_  
I cried  
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy  
Too young for him they told her  
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier  
Our love will never end  
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again  
Never more to be alone when the letter said  
A soldier's coming home _

So the letters came from an army camp  
In California then Vietnam  
And he told her of his heart  
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of  
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here  
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier  
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile  
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile

It turned out to be longer than expected that Zuko and her brother and Aang were gone. They were hiding, fighting, infiltrating, and more men were coming. They wanted to save both she and Toph—and Iroh—until the final battles took place. They were a sort of weapon. The Fire Nation had only fire. But their ragtag army had all four elements.

She received her first letter two days after he left, and she had been worried sick about all of them in the forty-eight hours they had been gone.

He ended his letter giving hope to her and silencing her fears:

_We are all fine, Katara. The Avatar sends his love. (Scary.) Sokka says to watch out for yourself. And Toph. Because she can't see for herself. And now the Avatar left a kiss for you at the bottom of the page. Weird kid. Now he's looking at me funny. Should I worry? I'm not going to die in the Fire Nation but at the hands of the peace-loving Avatar._

_Love, Your Friend,_

_Zuko_

_Say hello to my Uncle for me, please. _

_  
I cried  
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy  
Too young for him they told her  
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier  
Our love will never end  
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again  
Never more to be alone when the letter said  
A soldier's coming home _

One Friday night at a football game  
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang  
A man said folks would you bow your heads  
For a list of local Vietnam dead

The war was over. Katara had made her way to the city, to the celebrations and fireworks courtesy of the Fire Nation citizens loyal to the Avatar. Azula had been defeated—the solar eclipse could not be avoided, she and her Dai Li fell after trailing the Avatar and his friends into the capital city.

Ozai, too, had not expected this much from his son and the young Avatar. They had him by shock, and the dancing and singing and joyous celebration continued into the Fire Nation night.

Aang stepped up onto a platform, and amplified his voice with the wind.

"We remember now those who are lost..."

_  
Crying all alone under the stands  
Was a piccolo player in the marching band  
And one name read and nobody really cared  
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair_

She wept silently under the platforms, amongst the crowds of people, as Aang called out for the crowd to remember Prince Zuko, the rightful heir of the Fire Nation. But they bypassed the name, treating it coldly. She wondered if more would be interested if Aang had announced him as Li, nephew of Mushi.

A confetti ball exploded in her face, but she could not be happy. Her eyes were red, her tears clouded her vision, and her heart ached for the one she lost. She thought. She thought too hard for herself, tried too hard to remember Zuko. And she lost memories that night, of Zuko, and of life before he died. But, she realized, it was here that he was at peace. In his home, and she thought she saw his face among the stars, as all the loves of lost warriors seem to see their own. _  
_

_I cried  
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy  
Too young for him they told her  
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier  
Our love will never end  
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again  
Never more to be alone when the letter said  
A soldier's coming home  
_


End file.
